Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco reacts after throwing a touchdown pass during an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Baltimore, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. / Evan Vucci, AP

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

by Jim Corbett, USA TODAY Sports

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is a wild card within the wild-card showdown between the Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Which Flacco will show up, now that he has doubled-down on himself: the erratic passer from a 10-6 regular season or the quarterback who outplayed three-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady in last year's AFC title game but lost?

Flacco has another chance to show where he ranks among the league's top quarterbacks.

A playoff run raises Flacco's stock in his pursuit of a contract extension, while a one-and-done would mark Flacco's last game under his expiring rookie deal. Did walking away from a lucrative, multiyear offer before a so-so season hurt him?

Former NFL general manager Charley Casserly thinks so. He classifies Flacco below elite and says Flacco hurt his shot to be paid top-five quarterback money with a season that left him as the 12th-ranked passer with 22 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 3,817 yards.

But a defeat Sunday probably won't hurt Flacco, said Casserly, who added: Win or lose Sunday, the Ravens will keep him.

"He's going to be their quarterback going forward. It's just a question of whether they get a deal or franchise him," he said.

The Ravens can slap Flacco with a $14.8 million franchise tag if they can't agree on a long-term deal.

Flacco's agent, Joe Linta, told USA TODAY Sports that Flacco, 5-4 in the postseason, should be judged by his five-year record, 59-30, adding, "Anybody who knows the reality of this game knows the importance of wins and losses, and anybody who analyzes that knows Joe's a top-five guy."

Flacco says he's not worried his up-and-down season has hurt him.

"What we're trying to do right now, that's all I'm concerned about," he said, "making a playoff run and winning the Super Bowl. All that other stuff will take care of itself."

Linta said he hasn't spoken to the Ravens since August, but he expects talks to resume in the offseason.

"There's no acrimony," he said.

And there's no other likely franchise option, considering a weak draft and questionable free agents.

"Joe rolled the dice and thought he was going to come out on top," 2002 league MVP and current CBS analyst Rich Gannon said. "He left a pretty good offer on the table. There's not a lot of guys who would do that. But tell me who's more valuable to their team: Mario Williams (Buffalo's $100-million defensive end) or Joe Flacco?"

"Joe's going to make that type of money, whether the Ravens like it or not. He's not Brady, Peyton Manning, Rodgers or Brees. But they're going to have to pay a pretty high, franchise quarterback number."

Gannon said Flacco is caught in the middle of the Ravens' offensive identity crisis that led to the firing of offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and the elevation of quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell.

"In terms of arm talent, he's a top five guy," Gannon says. "For a 6-6, 245 guy, he's very athletic. The question for Joe is about stepping up - with Ray Lewis retiring, Joe is going to have to step outside his comfort zone and be more demanding of teammates, play more of a demonstrative leadership role."